When we moved in to a house built in 1836 I fully expected some ghost happenings. But the house feels cozy, and the main extent of ghostly activity is each of us thinking the other has said something or called out when we haven’t.
Until last week.
On Thursday night we were settling in to sleep when I heard something on the stairs, a kind of dragging step that I’m used to hearing from Huey, with his one lame foot. Except heavier. And Huey was next to me. As was Sean, and Little Cat.
Ummmmm, what was that? Sean had heard it too, and Little Cat ran to the stop of the stairwell and looked expectantly at whatever was coming up.
At this point, we’re thinking someone is actually in the house, so we weapon up and start creeping around like ninjas, kicking in doors. The house was empty. We go back to bed. 20 minutes later, there it is again. I flipped the lights on, ran downstairs, and nothing. We went to sleep feeling verrrrrry nervous but too exhausted to care.
3 days later, Sean is downstairs when a cat toy rolls across the (not slanted) floor, right to Little Cat. Sean comes upstairs and looks in on Huey and I sleeping, then back downstairs where Little Cat is playing with his toy and looking up expectantly at someone who isn’t there. Again.
So now it’s Halloween. Will our ghost return tonight? Eeeeeeeek.
eek!!
So the question is were you excited or scared out of your mind by it all??
The first time, I REALLY thought someone was in the house, so I was freaked out. I was asleep for the 2nd one, but Sean was freaked out,but I think it’s interesting. As long as the ghost doesn’t push me down the stairs.
Have you had a chance to do any research on the house yet? It might be interesting to learn who lived there.
When we bought the house I saw a paper with a list of the owners going back to the 1940s, but now I can’t find it! The deed itself only goes back to the 1990s. I have a book on the history of the town but it just mentions the family surnames of some people who lived there. I should look!
There must be some historical archive in town, right? Also, maybe old newspaper records would say if something “eventful” happen at the house.
This is your excuse to look at microfilm or microfiche! I’ve always wanted an excuse to look at newspapers on microfilm for hours. Oh, whoops, I think my nerd is showing.
Haha, this is a town of a 1000 people. Microfilm == “ask old Fred Batchelder, he’ll know.”
According to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ghouls and vampires take Hallowe’en off… Don’t know where Joss Whedon got that one, though!
The veil between the world of the living and dead is thinnest tonight, so I bet you’ll witness something. Ooooh, I love being creeped out!
Eeee! That is so freaky! Noises in the night terrify. Wonder what prompted the recent spike in activity?
Eeee… I want to say this is exciting or awesome, but you might not feel that way! Hopefully whatever spirits or residual energy are active in your house are harmless.
I love a good ghost story and haunted houses. Or old houses, period, with all the history and stories and past lives they contain within their walls. There is something so magical, although at times also unsettling, about them. 1836! That is magnificent.
Some victorian researchers discovered that hauntings were strongly correlated with poblems with carbon monoxide venting. You water heater and dryer (if it’s gas) need to be properly vented to outside!
Or you might have a ghost cat?
I saw the Mills music deptartment ghost once…
We have a carbon monoxide detector! No worries there.
Mills is haunted as hell.
The veil is thin these days. Leave food on broken plates so the benevolent dead may partake of it, and tell them so. Speak to them, they like to be visited with.
this is terrifying! the house i live in is over 100 years old and if anything like that ever happened to me i’d probably CRAP MY PANTS.
Yeah well, we have a house that is only around 100 years old, and when we first moved in I swear there was someone knocking on our back door regularly. And the cats, well, they definitely see things we don´t. Anyway, as you say, as long as they won´t harm any of us…
Thrilling! I rather love the thought of a house ghost, if they’re friendly enough – it’s like the house is a character, rather than just an inanimate object. Must’ve been terrifying the first time though – I hate trying to identify mysterious noises, I always assume the worst.
I am just now reading this, and OH MY GOSH! Have you had any more run-ins? I fully expected the same in my old house when we moved in, and so far – nada. So crazy!